Today, I stepped down as CEO of Binance. Admittedly, it was not easy to let go emotionally. But I know it is the right thing to do. I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and for myself.
Binance is no longer a baby. It is time for me to let it walk and run. I know Binance will continue to grow and excel with the deep bench it has.
I’m pleased to announce that @_RichardTeng, our now former Global Head of Regional Markets, has been named the new CEO of Binance today.
Richard is a highly qualified leader and, with over three decades of financial services and regulatory experience, he will navigate the company through its next period of growth. He will ensure Binance delivers on our next phase of security, transparency, compliance, and growth.
Prior to joining Binance, Richard was CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM); Chief Regulatory Officer of the Singapore Exchange (SGX); and Director of Corporate Finance in the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
With Richard and the entire team, I’m confident that the best days for @Binance and the crypto industry lay ahead.
As a shareholder and former CEO with historical knowledge of our company, I will remain available to the team to consult as needed, consistent with the framework set out in our U.S. agency resolutions.
What’s next for me?
I will take a break first. I have not had a single day of real (phone off) break for the last 6 and half years.
After that, my current thinking is I will probably do some passive investing, being a minority token/shareholder in startups in areas of blockchain/Web3/DeFi, AI and biotech. I am happy that I will finally have more time to spend looking at DeFi.
I can’t see myself being a CEO driving a startup again. I am content being an one-shot (lucky) entrepreneur. Should there be listeners, I may be open to being a coach/mentor to a small number of upcoming entrepreneurs, privately. If for nothing else, I can at least tell them what not to do.
On that note, I am proud to point out that in our resolutions with the U.S. agencies they:
- do not allege that Binance misappropriated any user funds, and
- do not allege that Binance engaged in any market manipulation.
Funds are SAFU!
With that, I look forward to seeing the new leadership take the reins. Please join me in congratulating Richard on his well-deserved promotion.
Onwards!
CZ
There are two types of billionaires in this world:
— One is @elonmusk, who’s shipped over **650** Starlink internet kits to 40+ organizations across Maui in order to re-connect victims
— The other is @Oprah, who’s funneling money into one of her organizations from middle class folks on social media
I haven’t met a SINGLE person here on Maui that’s gotten a dime from Oprah, but I’ve met dozens that’ve benefiting TREMENDOUSLY from @SpaceX’s internet connection.
Is it too much to ask Oprah, who owns over 2,200 acres on Maui, to step up?!
(* If anyone’s received anything from
Oprah personally please let me know! I’d love to speak with you.)
imagine grinding for whitelist for a hyped nft project for 12 months straight.
365 days of grinding in discord, twitter, making fan art, building your “brand” on the back of the project.
just for it to flop.
i love web3.
Some self-care things I do:
• Therapy
• Walks + sunshine
• Positive self-talk when things aren't going well
• Health basics: sleep, exercise, cooking my own food
• Permission to do nothing - play video games w/o guilt
Be kind to yourself because the world won't always be.
Imagine you could buy a JPEG on the internet today, actually own it, not just a screenshot, hold it for a few months, see all your friends getting rich, and your JPEG, too, appreciates in value.
You could cash out but everyone says it is going to the moon, so you keep it. It pumps another 50%. You could pay off your student debt now but still, you decide to keep it. Maybe this is your winning lottery ticket.
A few months go by. You casually check the price of your JPEG and it still goes up. Life is good.
Then the market crashes, nobody wants your JPEG anymore. In the first week it's down 50%.
"It will recover" you say to yourself. Then it drops another 25%. Then some more. And a few weeks later it is worth less than what you paid for it.
You're embarrassed to tell anyone about it, especially your family which told you to take some profits to finally move out. You still pretend to do good, "the market will recover", you say to yourself.
Mass adoption will come in and I will have a second chance to sell it at the top.
But deep down you know that you missed your chance.
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That, very briefly, is what an NFT is